Barnsley FC must still rue £1.5m transfer - he tarnished his Tykes reputation with strange comment | OneFootball

Barnsley striker Georgi Hristov will forever be remembered as a major flop by Tykes fans on and off the pitch

Barnsley’s record-breaking £1.5m gamble on Georgi Hristov was meant to shape their Premier League future – instead, it became a flop remembered for controversy rather than goals.

When Barnsley splashed a club-record £1.5 million on striker Georgi Hristov in the summer of 1997, it was a bold statement from the Tykes, who were just about to enter the Premier League for the first time.

Having signed from Partizan Belgrade as an up-and-coming striker who was tipped to have a strong goalscoring pedigree in England, Hristov was brought in to be the man who could fire the Tykes to survival in the top flight at the first time of asking.

However, his time in South Yorkshire proved to be anything but what was expected from the North Macedonian and, instead, his stay at Oakwell became one of the club’s most forgettable transfers in a rough chapter in their history.

Barnsley's signing of Georgi Hristov was a record gamble that fell flat

Hristov arrived with plenty of expectation on his shoulders, having signed for a large fee at the time. Known for being a powerful presence at the top end of the pitch combined with a reputation across Europe for his fine finishing, he was supposed to be the missing piece in Danny Wilson’s squad, but that didn't come to fruition.

Right from the get-go, the North Macedonian struggled to adapt to the intensity of English football and, as a result, was hit with injuries and fitness issues as well as a lack of confidence in front of goal, which all played a part in his rapid decline. The bottom line was clear that Hristov simply wasn’t delivering and didn't justify Barnsley's record price tag.

Across his 21 Premier League appearances that he made for the Tykes, Hristov merely managed four goals, which saw Barnsley face immediate relegation back into the second tier. For a record fee, it was a painfully low return.

Although some fans hoped that he might find his feet in the First Division the following year, his performances didn't improve, despite the pressure and spotlight being slightly reduced. In the 1998/99 campaign, Hristov found the net just four times in 19 appearances, still failing to display why the club brought him in the first place.

By the time 2000 rolled around, his departure to the Netherlands felt less like a shock and more like an inevitability as he made the move to NEC Nijmegen, where his form picked up once again. For what was meant to be Barnsley’s marquee Premier League signing quickly turned into transfer regret, an expensive one at that.

Georgi Hristov's Barnsley reputation damaged beyond repair off the pitch

If Hristov's struggles on the pitch were already disappointing, what happened off it made his entire spell in South Yorkshire be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

In 1998, during an interview in the midst of being homesick, Hristov made a remark that stunned supporters. He told a Belgrade sports magazine that Barnsley women were "uglier" and drink more than those in his native Macedonia. Not only was it an insulting comment on the town, but also unnecessary, which, unsurprisingly, left a sour taste in many fans' mouths.

Hristov said: "I'm finding it difficult to find a girlfriend in Barnsley, or instead settle into a decent way of life.

"The local girls are far uglier than the ones back in Belgrade or Skopje, the capital of Macedonia, where I come from. Our women are much prettier. Besides, they don't drink as much beer as the Barnsley girls, which is something I don't like at all.

"England is a strange country and I found it hard to adapt to living here."

At a time when he was already failing to win over fans through his inconsistent performances, the comment effectively said farewell to any remaining goodwill. For those supporters who were willing to be patient, as any striker coming from overseas needs time to settle in, he didn't take to the English culture very well and suddenly, fans had little interest in backing him.

From that moment, his relationship with the club and its fanbase never recovered. He was no longer just a struggling signing, but could also be labelled as almost a disruption. So, when Hristov finally left in 2000, there wasn't a sense of loss, perhaps only relief.

Barnsley had invested heavily in a striker who brought neither goals nor connection, and ultimately, Hristov's legacy became defined by a single bizarre comment rather than anything he achieved on the pitch.

To this day, the £1.5m record signing never delivered, never settled and tarnished his own reputation in the process with one careless remark.

Instead of being the man to fire Barnsley to Premier League stability, Georgi Hristov became a symbol of the club’s difficult tenure in the top-flight and one of the biggest flops in their history. It was a transfer gamble that promised so much, but left the Tykes with nothing but regret.